Sommer said he and a hunting partner were looking for an elk they
had been calling Monday morning when his partner spotted the grizzly
in the southern end of the Gravelly Range, just north of the Idaho
border.

His hunting partner unleashed a blast of bear spray, which slowed
the bear's charge. Sommer said he grabbed his canister so quickly
that he couldn't release the safety and he couldn't afford to look
down as the bear closed in. He ran around a tree twice and dropped
his bear spray in the process.

Sommer then grabbed his pistol and turned to confront the bear.

He still had his pistol in his hand and was going to shoot the bear
in the neck when it swatted his arm down, Sommer said.

"Just like that it stopped. He stopped biting me, he got up and
started to run away," said Sommer, who splits his time among Idaho,
Missouri and Florida.

His hunting partner had been able to deploy the rest of his bear
spray, ending the attack Sommer estimated lasted about 25 seconds.

"It could have been a lot worse," he said.

Sommer found his bear spray canister. His hunting partner had some
blood coagulation powder and they made a turban, stopping the
bleeding after about 15 minutes.

They walked a mile back to their camp and rode mules another 4 miles
(6.4 kilometers) out to their base camp, followed by a 2-hour ride
in a pickup truck to get to the hospital in Ennis.

"Through it all I was very conscious, very level-headed and low key
about it," Sommer said. "Besides some scars, it doesn't appear that
I will have any problems."

"I've been a hunter my whole life," said Sommer, 57. "I have no
grievance against the bear. He was just doing what bears do. But I
would have shot him just the same."

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